Jean-Philippe Rameau (1683-1764) was a French composer and music theorist of the late Baroque, born in Dijon. He did not debut as an opera composer until the age of 50, with Hippolyte et Aricie (1733), yet quickly became the dominant figure of the French lyric stage - his operas and opéra-ballets, above all Les Indes galantes (1735) and Castor et Pollux (1737), rivalled Italian models and split Parisian audiences into fervent camps. Alongside his stage works, his Traité de l'harmonie (1722) laid out a theory of functional harmony that shaped musical thought well into the 19th century.
The Paris Opera (Opéra national de Paris) presented a new production of Castor et Pollux in the original 1737 version at Palais Garnier, directed by Peter Sellars and conducted by Teodor Currentzis.
A new recording of the opera Les Boréades was released on the Erato label under the direction of György Vashegyi with Orfeo Orchestra and Purcell Choir - the sixth Rameau opera recorded by the conductor as part of a ten-year project with Centre de musique baroque de Versailles.
Grand Théâtre de Genève will present a staged version of Castor et Pollux in the original 1737 version under the direction of Leonardo García-Alarcón and his Cappella Mediterranea.
Opéra-Comique in Paris presented Rameau's opera Samson directed by Claude Guth under the musical direction of Raphaël Pichon.
The International Music Competition Jean-Philippe Rameau announced the results of the 2026 season and opened applications for the next year.
